He said the incident will be investigated when the government changes, and prominent people will be caught.

Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Thursday claimed that paramilitary personnel who died in the Pulwama terror attack last month were “killed for votes”, ANI reported. He said the incident will be investigated when the government changes, and “many big names” will be caught.

“Paramilitary forces are unhappy with the government,” Yadav said at an event in his native Saifai village in Uttar Pradesh. “Soldiers were killed for votes. There was no security checking between Jammu and Srinagar. Soldiers were being transported in ordinary buses. This was a conspiracy.”

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath said Yadav’s remark was an ugly example of dirty politics. “He should apologise to the public for making a remark that questions our jawans’ martyrdom and hurts their confidence,” Adityanath said, according to ANI.

Forty jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed in a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14. The incident led to escalated tension between India and Pakistan, as the attack was claimed by the cross-border terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Some Opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, had asked the government for evidence and details of an air strike conducted by the Indian Air Force in Balakot, Pakistan, on February 26. Some asked the Centre whether the air strikes were related to the General Elections. A group of 21 Opposition parties also issued a joint statement condemning the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “blatant politicisation” of the sacrifices made by the Indian armed forces.